A few of my favourite things in…January

Hello my dear friends and a happy Saturday to you all!  Today I am off to photograph a lovely wedding with a dear friend of mine – this will be a first for me, so I am rather excited {and nervous}, to say the least!

 

As today is also the last day of the delightful month of January, I thought I would share a few of my favourite things that took place during the first month of 2015…

Let’s see…January began on a simply wonderful note for me – my dear parents surprised me with an early birthday gift, a beautiful laptop which now serves as my blogging companion. 

I hope to spend many pleasurable hours sharing my heart on my blog and meeting new friends!

 

On the second of January, my dear friends from Cape Town came to spend my eighteenth birthday with me.  We had a beautifully blessed time together…  You can read more about their visit here.

 

I celebrated my eighteenth birthday on the third of January – I honestly can’t believe how swiftly the time has flown by…  I am so thankful for the Lord’s leading in my life and I look forward to seeing what He has planned for me in the years ahead…

Just before my dad went back to work and the new school year began, we took a family day trip…  We were so blessed with a beautiful day and I will treasure that outing for many years to come – it was so precious!

 

After taking almost a full year off from formal schooling last year to establish my business and grow my blog, I started again with a light workload this year in order for me to build my business and pursue my other interests such as photography, blogging and music at the same time…  So far it has been wonderful!

 January is a very hot month in South Africa, so we have been able to take a trip to the beach or lagoon about once a week or so.  I am not usually a beach type of person – I don’t like the sand all that much – but in such warm weather, I ignore my dislike for sand and salt and cool down in the rough, chilly water…  We even had a picnic supper down on the shore the other evening…

…And my business continues to keep me very busy – Heartmade is growing steadily and teaching me a great deal every day. 

That reminds me, have you stopped by to enter my Valentine’s giveaway yet?  This giveaway is open to readers all over the world and closes on February 6^th, so do hop by…  I am offering one handmade patchwork heart with a cross stitch motif to one dear reader – click here to see!

 

January has also been a wonderful month for blogging – I have felt so very blessed being able to meet so many new bloggers and sisters in Christ!  Thank you for your sweet visits and encouraging comments - I enjoy reading them all:)

I hope that January was a lovely month for you as well…

And if you are in the mood for some reading, here are my top three posts from January…

A Beautiful Act

A Tutorial ~ Howto Make Your Own Vintage Style Gift Wrap

How I celebrated my eighteenth…

May February be filled with ever so much love and smiles and gifts from our wonderful Lord and King!

Your friend,Kelly-Anne

Thoughtful Thursday

 

 

~ He told them, “The harvest is large, but the workers are few.  So ask the Lord who gives this harvest to send workers to harvest his crops.  Go!  I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves.”  Luke 10:2-3 ~

Happy Thursday, friends!   

Blessings,

Kelly-Anne

Painting by Myles Birket Foster – At the Cottage Door

Introducing Super Special Sister Time…

Towards the end of last year, I began noticing that the time spent with my dear younger sisters was becoming increasingly limited…  Being older now, I have more responsibilities and commitments than I did before...

But as these things are essentially of little value compared to the precious relationship between sisters, I resolved to find a way to spend quality time with each of them in a practical yet enjoyable way. 

After much prayer, I felt the The Lord lay 'Super Special Sister Time' on my heart... Let me tell you more about it...

By devoting a few hours to my sisters' each week, I am hoping I will able to switch off from all other distractions and just focus on what we are doing... 
 Also I hope it will create a lovely opportunity for talking and draw us closer to each other, thus forming a close sisterly bond.  
  

Having our ‘Super Special Sister Time’ each week will encourage and inspire me to think of and plan special ways we can have fun together.

I am not saying that I will only be a good sister during these weekly meetings of ours, but that this will just allow us to do things together which we wouldn’t ordinarily do...  

  I am also praying it will serve as an encouragement to each of us to show more love to our sisters…

This year I feel the Lord is calling me to draw closer especially to the two middle girls in our family, Beth and Gabrielle. 

Beth is ten and Gabrielle is seven and I can see how they long for the friendship of their older sister…  

I realise that they look up to me and view me as their role model…what message am I sending them by constantly being too occupied with other activities?  These things are important, yes, but are they more important...?

I desire a good relationship with my sisters but how is that to be achieved when nothing is being invested?  This applies to all relationships - what you put in now is what you will get out…  
Jesus says that what we sow is what we will reap.  What seeds am I sowing in my sisterly relationships?

~ Be not deceived; God is not mocked:  for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.  And let us not be weary in well doing:  for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.  Galatians 6:7-9, KJV ~

The two little girls, Sofia and Rebekah, age three and five, and I are great buddies – we love to do fun  things together and they are so easy to please…a cup of tea in the mornings when I make mine or a walk up the farm driveway makes them so happy!  We also love to cuddle!  I cherish these special moments with them as they too will soon be grown up...

I am determined to pour more of myself into the lives of my sisters.  They are so eager for time spent with me – I feel so incredibly humbled at this – and I think these weekly sister dates are going to be wonderful fun for all of us!

If you are also an older sister, may I encourage you to pray about a special way you can draw closer to your siblings...

I will be sharing ideas, encouragement and some of my own 'Super Special Sister Time' efforts over the next few weeks, so do visit again for updates:).
*Photographs of us girls taken during the last few years...

Oh, and before I forget, please hop over to this post to stand a chance to win one lovely handmade patchwork heart with a tiny cross stitch motif to grace your home!  I invite all my readers to participate:)  Enter here!

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A Special Valentine's Giveaway!

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought it would be a lovely idea to host a special giveaway to bless my sweet readers… 

While I may not believe in celebrating Valentine’s Day in the wordly romantic way, I think it is a wonderful occasion to show your love and appreciation to those closest to you, as well as to those far away who are in desperate need of the love of a Saviour…

I intend to spend Valentine’s Day praising the Lord for giving me the special people in my life – my family and my dear friends…

When I began blogging almost six years ago, I could not have imagined the great blessing it would turn out to be...  I have been able to get to know so many wonderful sisters in Christ over the years and I count them all as dear friends...  

This is just my small way of blessing my dear readers and thanking them for joining me on this incredible journey to Biblical Womanhood…

Now onto the giveaway…

Many of you know how much I love fabric…  For me it is like walking into a candy store when I visit a fabric shop ~ the choices are endless and I love matching up fabrics and dreaming of the delightful things I will make in the days to come.

Heartmade is a hobby turned business and I really love and enjoy what I do…

…As hearts are the theme around this time of year and because I love patchwork so much, I have a patchwork heart with a beautiful little cross stitch motif just waiting to bless some special reader…

My products are all uniquely handmade with lots of love and it is my greatest pleasure to know I have brought a smile to another person’s face and joy to their heart through what I am privileged to do…

The winner of this special giveaway will receive a patchwork heart with a cross stitch motif in either red or pink, depending on her personal preference… 

That means you will be able to choose ~ how lovely is that?!

How it will work…

Entering is very simple ~ all you need to do is leave a comment on this post…

To gain extra entries you can share this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Email, Pinterest or Blogger.  Please just leave a separate comment for each thing you do…

If for some reason you have trouble commenting, you can email your entry to me at kelly.beautifulgirlhood@gmail.com ~ please put ‘giveaway’ in the subject line…

This giveaway is open to all my readers across the world…

Giveaway closes at midnight on the 6^th of February ~ winner will be randomly drawn and posted the next day!

Enjoy and happy commenting my friends!